English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Background  During the COVID-19 pandemic, between March and May 2020, in Italy, people were asked to shelter in place and most had to put their life on hold, while news of the spread of the virus constantly were broadcasted. The change in habits and the potential exposure to a dangerous virus can be categorized as a catastrophic event, which are usually traumatic and therefore have psychological consequences for the people involved.    Objective  Assuming the COVID-19 pandemic as a possible traumatic event, this study aims to explore the contingent behavioural and psychological impact of COVID-19 spread and related lockdown on the Italian general population, through measuring anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms .    Methods  An ad hoc-survey was set up for the this exploratory research, including the standardized Italian versions of the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R) and the Generalized Anxiety Scale (GAD-7), and ad hoc items concerning behavioural reactions due to the pandemic spread and related mass quarantine. Participants were recruited across convenient web-based and mobile app channels using a snowball sampling technique. Data was collected from March 25th to May 1st, 2020.    Participants  One-thousand one hundred and ninety-five individuals (851 women and 342 men) completed 60% or more of the survey and were considered for analyses. Mean age was 40 years (s.d. = 14.948). Participants resided in 78 Italian provinces (out of 107 territorial divisions), with 25.7% residing in the Milan province and 9.2% from the Monza and Brianza provinces, closest to the epicentre of the Italian outbreak.    Results  During the worst months of the first wave of the Pandemic, the Italian population suffered high level of distress (GAD-7 m = 6.89, s.d. = 5.08; IER-R mean score = 27.86, s.d. 17.46), respectively indicating mild presence of anxiety symptoms, and high levels of PTSD symptoms. Gender seems to be a discriminating variable with women scoring significantly higher than man, both for anxiety symptoms (H (1) = 82.91,  p  < .001) and all dimensions of PTSD symptoms (intrusion H (1) = 71.23,  p  < .001, avoidance H (1) = 61.28, p < .001), and hyperarousal (H (1) = 67.348, p < .001). People from Generations Y and Z show to be at higher risk of developing PTSD (V = .746, F (3,1041) =1017.19,  p  = .001) and GAD symptoms (F (3,1041) = 5.113,  p  = .002) than older generations.    Conclusions  Gender and generation appeared to be the most consistent risk factor for higher levels of generalized anxiety and PTSD symptoms in the current pandemic. Other variables – such as information seeking behaviours, parental and marriage status, chronic conditions – yielded less consistent evidence. Results indicate the need of including psychological interventions as a standard tool during the emergency management of a catastrophic events such as a pandemic.

bmc public health

Incidence of PTSD and generalized anxiety symptoms during the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak: an exploratory study of a large sample of the Italian population